


As You Are

by lovexyou



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Angst, Descriptions of Blood, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, Useless Lesbian Vampire, Vampires, for a vampire story this isn't very violent, human!Sana, jihyo's a doctor, over being a vampire because all vampires are emo about being vampires, uhhh what else, vampire!Dahyun, wait this is a better tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-05 17:37:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16372073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovexyou/pseuds/lovexyou
Summary: Dahyun still isn’t quite used to being a vampire. Sana just wants to take care of her.





	1. Chapter 1

Dahyun doesn’t remember how it happened. She remembers her flesh burning as if fire was melting her skin away. She remembers that there was a pungent metallic taste in her mouth that was so overwhelming that she kept coughing and coughing to try and get rid of it. Blood kept coming out, pooling into her hands, dripping onto the floor. She remembers feeling so disorientated, trying to focus on watching the drops of blood swirl with her spit, the color either dead or dying but it didn’t look quite red. She remembers her heart stopping and how dark everything around her felt, _felt_ , not that it simply looked dark and that she couldn’t see where she was but it _felt_ dark and overpowering. She wasn’t sure if she was breathing—she couldn’t tell.

 

And then, nothing. She doesn’t remember seeing anyone.

 

~

 

“You shouldn’t feel any need to feed for a couple days,” Doctor Park informs her, looking over the papers on her clipboard. “Come back at that point and we should be able to supply you so long as you accept to have your livelihood monitored by our staff as long as we’re supplying you. You may be feeling a bit overwhelmed with your surroundings, but that’s a natural part of the process.”

 

There’s pity in her eyes. Dahyun doesn’t like it. She also doesn’t like the shade of white she’s wearing, too _bright_ against all of their surroundings. Dahyun opens her mouth to speak, but her voice is a gurgle of incoherent sounds.

 

Dahyun coughs into her arm. Bright specks of blood spray across her patient gown. Her skin is paler than she remembers, but maybe it’s just the blood making it look that way.

 

“I suggest you be around people you trust,” Jihyo says and her voice loses that professionalism, going back to talking like a friend rather than a doctor. “Let them take care of you as if this was just a flu or something.”

 

“Please don’t tell Sana about this,” Dahyun pleads, hoping that Jihyo’s professionalism can come back for this one favor.

 

Jihyo looks down at her clipboard again. “As your doctor, I’m not allowed to inform your family or friends about this unless you ask me to.” She looks back up to Dahyun. “But as your friend, you know I can’t just not tell Sana about this if she ends up worrying about why you’re so under the weather.

 

Dahyun closes her eyes, already knowing what Jihyo’s about to tell her. She feels her skin shiver against the air, her head becoming heavy with stress.

 

“You can’t just pretend that nothing happened, Dahyun. It’s a traumatic experience for anyone, and ignoring it won’t make you feel better.” Jihyo puts a comforting hand on Dahyun’s arm.

 

Dahyun drags her fingers through her hair, trying to focus on the feeling and not on her present situation. “I can’t,” she says after a moment, her voice low and shaking. “I can’t let her see me like this, Jihyo, I _can’t_.” She pulls her hand back down, but her strength must have grown, because Jihyo stumbled back because of her abrupt movement.

 

“You’re lucky to be alive, Dahyun,” Jihyo tells her, says it as if she hasn’t informed Dahyun of this fact over ten times already. “You’re not well and you _need_ help as you adjust.”

 

Dahyun sighs, but finally sits up. She doesn’t move for a moment. “I’m not lucky to be alive,” she states, “And you can’t tell Sana.”

 

“If she asks me, you know I’ll end up telling her,” Jihyo admits, leaning back into her seat.

 

“I’ll kill you,” Dahyun says before realizing that she’s saying it, but once she does realize she brings a hand on her mouth in a half-gasp, genuinely surprised and scared of what she’s just said. It takes her a moment to calm down. It felt as if something had spoken for her and it leaves her completely afraid. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s fine, Dahyun,” Jihyo tells her, completely unfazed.

 

Dahyun hesitates to leave, hovering by the door. “You know I don’t mean it, right?”

 

Jihyo takes a moment to answer, wondering what’s the best thing to say. “I know the human part of you doesn’t mean it.”

 

Dahyun bites her bottom lip. She knows what that means. Although, she notices that her teeth haven’t grown out yet, and she’s secretly grateful of that as she waits for Jihyo to continue.

 

“But you’re a _vampire_ ,” Jihyo tells her, knowing that sugarcoating it won’t help in anything. “Aggression is natural to your kind.”

 

Dahyun looks down, not having the strength to meet Jihyo’s eyes. “I’m not a monster,” she says after a moment, voice barely above a whisper. “I can’t even kill a spider when Sana asks me to, how can I be a monster?”

 

“I know you’re not,” Jihyo tells her. “You’re the same person you used to be.”

 

Dahyun shakes her head, knowing that she can’t agree with that statement.

 

“But you’re damaged,” Jihyo admits. “And you need the people around you to help you get better again.”

 

Dahyun sighs, overwhelmed with stress. “I’m a bad liar,” Dahyun confesses suddenly. “Even if I don’t tell Sana, she’ll probably figure out.”

 

~

 

She misses being home, but it’s different now. It doesn’t feel safe anymore.

 

Dahyun stares at herself in the mirror. Weirdly enough, she still has a reflection. Or maybe that part of vampirism hasn’t progressed yet.

 

She has a visible bruise on the side of her neck, but all it does is bring more attention to the mark themselves. They’re a sickly dark color, and the surrounding skin seems to be scarring around it.

 

Dahyun opens her mouth to inspect her teeth. Her canines were a bump longer, but it wasn’t really noticeable. Still, it leaves her a bit paranoid.

 

She looks at herself in the mirror and all she can see is a scared little girl, baring similarities to Dahyun but looking so broken and bruised that Dahyun can’t quite believe it’s her. But still. She sees a girl. Not a monster. Not yet a monster.

 

~

 

“You seem weird lately,” Sana tells Dahyun. They’re holding hands as they walk through the streets, cuddled up in sweaters and heavy clothing due to the slow winter cold.

 

“I keep getting this headache in the mornings,” Dahyun mentions. At least since it’s cloudy out, the heat isn’t affecting her as much right now.

 

Sana nods, accepting Dahyun’s answer. Then she smiles that little mischievously flirty smile of hers and stops them right by the corner. “Maybe it’s because your body misses me in the morning?”

 

It probably won’t be possible in the next coming weeks, but for now Dahyun’s face heats up with a very obvious blush, only amplified by her paleness. “Shush!” she whispers in an aggressive fashion that Sana just finds cute. “We’re in public!”

 

~

 

Sana cups Dahyun’s face, nipping at the younger girl’s bottom lip. Dahyun’s flushed with the heat of Sana’s kiss, wanting more. She laughs when they stumble onto the bed, a smile decorating her face as she pulls Sana’s sweater off.

 

Truth be told, Dahyun feels just a little bit addicted to the curve of Sana’s smile whenever they kiss. Her head spins as a half-naked Sana gets on top of her, and her heart’s beating fast with sudden thrill. Dahyun almost forgets that if she undresses in front of Sana, the marks in her neck will be visible. Almost. She think up of what excuse she should use, maybe tell Sana that she doesn’t feel well enough to do today.

 

Then Sana stops. She giggles cutely, falling to the side of Dahyun. “Your teeth are scratched,” she states, licking her lips.

 

“They are…?” Dahyun had make sure to have the tips of her canine shaved so that it would be less obvious, but perhaps they were growing at a faster rate than she anticipated.

 

Sana smiles, still giggly. “Your kiss feels weird.” She takes Dahyun’s lips again, biting the younger girl’s bottom lip until Dahyun lets Sana slip her tongue in. Sana laughs into the kiss, pulling back again. “It’s kinda hurting my tongue,” she admits, still laughing.

 

“We can still kiss though…”

 

Sana hits the back of her hand against Dahyun’s temple. “Ha, no.”

 

Dahyun pouts, feeling rejected, though really she’s worried that if Sana’s noticed this so quickly, how much longer until she finds out?

 

~

 

Her fangs become more of a problem the hungrier she gets. They’re poking out now, but Dahyun worries that scheduling another appointment to have the tips shaved off will only increase suspicion of why they’re growing so much in the first place. She hasn’t seen Sana in the past few days, mostly due to Sana’s busy college life at midterms, but that won’t last long.

 

So, she does the more responsible thing to do. Or, well, most responsible if she didn’t include the fact that she hasn’t told Sana about this yet.

 

“There’s a lot of rules…” Dahyun says after a while of reading through all the required paperwork to receive supplies from the hospital. She feels her fangs poke at her lips as she speaks.

 

“Yeah, it’s the only way to keep you in a legal status,” Jihyo says, looking with intense curiosity at Dahyun’s fangs. “Those grew _really_ fast. I’m guessing you haven’t had time to go get the tips shaved off?”

 

“I did, but they grew right back and I was hungry so I instead came here.” Dahyun flips through all the pages, silently counting just how many papers there are. A specific passage near the end catches her attention, stopping her from continuing.

 

She puts the papers down, decision made. “I didn’t realize this was a life-sentence.”

 

“I’m sure you’re concerned-” Jihyo’s talking in that professional voice but Dahyun just doesn’t want to hear it.

 

“I’m not a pet, okay? I can’t just sign my entire life to this.” She feels a low growl in her throat but doesn’t acknowledge it. “I _know_ I’m not a monster.”

 

“You don’t really have much of a _choice_ , Dahyun,” Jihyo says, and she sounds like a mix of that professional doctor voice and her casual, friendly one. “It’s either this, or you starve to death.”

 

Dahyun just stares at her. Without noticing, she smiles, her fangs proudly showing.

 

“Or you’ll go out there and lose control and, who knows, maybe you’ll end up _killing_ someone.”

 

And this stops Dahyun, rids her of those vampiric instincts and loses its dangerous edge. She could end up killing someone. If her fangs grew this much so face, she probably doesn’t have much time. She’s not a monster, but if she was then she would have a choice.

 

“Listen, you don’t have to decide this right now,” Jihyo informs her quietly, noticing how conflicted Dahyun looks. “But the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be for you to say yes to this. Vampires are notoriously proud creatures and they would rather risk those around them than get into something like this.”

 

There’s pity in Jihyo’s eyes. Dahyun doesn’t like it.

 

“It’s best to decide quickly, but you still have a few more days until you’re in a critical condition. So please, think about it and make the right choice.”

 

Dahyun _really_ doesn’t like it.

 

~

 

There isn’t enough time.

 

Sana leans forwards, an arm at Dahyun’s neck and slightly choking the younger girl with her weight. “Stay _still_ , will you?” Sana heaves, breath tickling Dahyun’s lips.

 

Dahyun just stares up at her, eyes flashing red, her lips pulled back in a snarl, fangs protruding with hunger. Despite her immediate aggression, she’s physically weak and can’t put up much of a fight, meaning that Sana easily has the upper-hand here.

 

Sana giggles. “ _Bad girl_ ,” Sana says, flicking Dahyun’s forehead when Dahyun tries biting but only manages to snip at the air.

 

Dahyun tries to say something but it comes out as a growl. She attempts to instead push Sana off of her again, but Sana just presses down a little harder with a heavy breath. Then, she lowers her head onto Dahyun’s chest, hearing the absence of a heartbeat.

 

Dahyun struggles again, biting at nothing, Sana holding her hands down with so much force that neither of them can move without letting the other escape.

 

“ _I love you_ ,” Sana whispers, shutting her eyes tightly as her grip weakens, still hearing the hollowness in Dahyun’s chest. “Did you hear me? I love you, Dubu.”

 

“ _D-don’t_ —” Dahyun manages to say, turning her head away and snapping her mouth closed. Her fangs scratch at her lips and she can taste the dead, dark blood on them.

 

Sana just flicks Dahyun’s forehead again. “I want to trust you, but you’re being really rude right now,” she says and her voice is surprisingly level and almost cute. “We’re in this together, and that means we need to talk about it and make sure everything’s okay.”

 

“No, just-” Dahyun manages to finally push Sana off of her, pushing herself backwards until her back meets the wall. Her eyes are back to normal, but there’s still flecks of red in them. She looks completely terrified.

 

Sana crawls towards her. “I know you’re scared, but I’m here for you, okay?” Sana tilts her head a bit to the side, trying to catch Dahyun’s gaze. “You don’t have to be scared, okay? You don’t have to be scared when you’re with me.”

 

Dahyun feels her fangs protruding out again and tries to bite her lower lip in an attempt to stop them. She closes her eyes shut as she tries to keep control of this, but she knows she can’t do this for long. “You need to leave,” she manages to say, but her voice is rough and desperate and so, _so_ afraid. “You need to stay safe- you can’t be around me right now-”

 

“It’s okay, Dubu,” Sana tells her, smiling softly. “It’s okay.”

 

“No, _no_.” Dahyun hides her face in her arms, trying to back away but not being able to. “I can’t hurt you- I can’t hurt you!”

 

“You’re not hurting me,” Sana says slowly, wanting to help but not knowing what’s the best way to do so. “I love you, Dubu,” she tells her again as she reaches out to grab her hand.

 

Dahyun’s hands are shaking badly, but she lets Sana get closer. Sana intertwines their fingers, helping Dahyun calm down a bit.

 

“You’re not hurting me,” Sana repeats, rubbing circles on Dahyun’s hand.

 

Dahyun breathes roughly as tears start streaming down. The gnawing in her stomach seems to pulsate with red heat. She wonders how much long it’ll take for her to become a complete monster, how much time it would take Sana to get to a safe place away from her.

 

But Sana doesn’t move away from her, instead moving closer again.

 

“It’s okay, Dahyun,” Sana tells her, bringing Dahyun’s hand to her lips and leaving a feather-light kiss over her skin. “Promise me something, please?”

 

Dahyun feels the blood on her bottom lip. She opens her eyes slowly to look at Sana, silently telling her to continue.

 

“Do this as yourself,” Sana tells her, cuddling closer to Dahyun. She feels so warm against Dahyun’s cold skin. “It’s fine with me as long as it’s you.”

 

“What if… What if…” Dahyun tries to continue, but the words die as her mind entertains the worst.

 

“There’s no way to escape this,” Sana says, sighing and deciding that there’s no way to sugarcoat this. “If not me, who else? If a couple more minutes pass…” She hesitates. “Who knows when’s the next time I’ll see you as yourself again?”

 

Dahyun tries to muffle a whimper. She wishes she was strong enough. She wishes this didn’t happen. She wishes she wasn’t really a monster inside.

 

“Together?” Sana asks softly, lifting Dahyun’s face to her.

 

Dahyun looks like a complete mess. Her lips are badly bruised and bleeding, but she looks like a ghost who's just about to fade away. She looks dead. She _is_ dead. “Together,” she answers, and it sounds like she’s giving up.

 

Sana moves her hair away from her neck and moves closer. Even though she’s nowhere near as scared about this as Dahyun, she’s still afraid of the pain. “It’s okay with me as long as it’s you,” she says, though her eyes are shut and her face is screwed up in anticipation of how much this is going to hurt.

 

Dahyun hesitates, but finally opens her mouth, inching closer. The ache in her stomach is almost blinding, but she manages to control it long enough to be gentle.

 

Sana’s breath hitches but she doesn’t move, letting Dahyun continue.

 

Dahyun separates herself from her when the pain dies down. She smiles despite herself, feeling okay for the first time since she woke up. She instinctively licks the wound, feels it heal on her tongue before letting go.

 

Sana just stares at her. There’s a weird look in her eyes that Dahyun can’t quite put her finger on, but it’s not disgust or fear.

 

“Are you okay?” Dahyun asks, and she’s surprised with herself over how level her voice is. Her fangs has retracted back, a fact that she notices simply because they’re not poking at her lips anymore. They had simply pushed themselves back in place now that the feeding was over.

 

Sana bites her bottom lip. “I have a problem.”

 

Dahyun passes a finger over the newly smooth skin on Sana’s neck. There’s not even a mark there, which is weird considering Dahyun still has a deep wound on her own neck. Sana’s more than okay. “There’s no mark,” Dahyun points out, rubbing her thumb on the spot where she’s sure she was biting on a few seconds ago.

 

“Oh, really?” Sana asks, seeming surprised and a little confused, though that wasn’t what was on her mind right now.

 

“What’s wrong?” Dahyun asks, now worried.

 

“That was kinda hot, honestly...” Sana confesses shyly, rubbing that spot in her neck. Her breath is heavy and her eyes are dark.

 

Dahyun is taken completely aback by that, but then she can’t help but giggle, letting head rest on Sana’s shoulders.

 

“I don’t think you get it,” Sana says after a moment of hearing Dahyun laugh. “That was, like, really hot. Like really.”

 

Dahyun just laughs louder.

 

“Stop laughing!” Sana pouts, but it just makes Dahyun laugh even more. “Hey, you need to fix this!”

 

“I will-” Dahyun tries to say, but she’s laughing so much that it’s barely understandable. “I _will_ , just give me a moment!”

 

Sana waits a moment, but Dahyun just continues to laugh, even falling on the floor. “Why are you laughing so much in the first place?” Sana asks, bothered and unfortunately still very much aroused, but mostly bothered.

 

Dahyun calms down enough to answer, but the giggle is still very much present in her voice. “I was so worried that you would turn or something, but-” she can’t even continue as she gets overwhelmed with laughter again.


	2. love marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone finds out.

Dahyun’s kisses travel across Sana’s jaw to her collarbone, leaving love marks in her wake. She’s not really biting, but the act is making Sana moan softly in response, voice trembling at Dahyun’s touch.

 

"Ah, Dahyun-ah..." Sana's breath hitches.

 

Dahyun smiles against her skin, loving how easy it is to make Sana a mess in her hands.

 

“I need to leave soon…” Sana says, though there’s no urgency in her voice.

 

“Do you _really_ have to?” Dahyun mumbles, stopping for only a moment but soon continuing.

 

Sana giggles, the sound echoing against Dahyun’s lips. “One of us has to be normal, you know.”

 

“Ah, but still…” Dahyun’s hand reaches inside Sana’s shirt, crawling upwards with a gentle touch with less than appropriate reasons.

 

Sana puts a hand over Dahyun’s, though her grip is weak. “S-stop, if we start now then I’ll be late by an hour.”

 

“But it sounds so sweet when you say it like that...” Dahyun murmurs, but her hand falls and she instead just pecks Sana’s lips. “Be back soon, okay?”

 

Sana rubs her neck, missing the feeling of Dahyun’s touch. She tries to blink the lust away. “You did a number on my neck,” she says casually, though she’s more focused on getting up and finding her clothes.

 

“I can fix it,” Dahyun says nonchalantly, helpfully finding one of Sana’s undergarments and passing it to her.

 

Sana raises an eyebrow, taking the undergarment and putting it on while their gazes are locked on one another. “Are you gonna actually fix it or are you going to try and convince me to stay home today?” she asks, knowing what the little smile on Dahyun’s face probably means.

 

Dahyun’s smile grows, a little mischief hidden behind it.

 

“I’ll wear a scarf,” Sana answers, shaking her head a bit.

 

~

 

Sana isn’t quite used to college life despite having been here for a couple months already. Or maybe she just wasn’t used to not sleeping. It’s not like she can be with Dahyun in the daytime, so Sana always ends up staying up to be with her girlfriend.

 

She stares down at her food, poking and prodding it mindlessly. She’s so tired that she’s starting to imagine the food screaming at her and begging for mercy to stop her from eating it.

 

“Sana-ssi, can I borrow your notes for a moment?” Jeongyeon, Sana’s table partner for her first class of the day, interrupts her thoughts. “Professor Jung kept going through her presentation too quickly for me to copy it all down.”

 

Sana stabs the screaming food before putting it in her mouth, effectively destroying their wails of pain and misery, before she answers Jeongyeon. “Yeah sure, let me take them out.” She opens up her bag to grab the binder and passes it to Jeongyeon.

 

“Ah, thank-” before Jeongyeon could finish expressing her gratitude, Nayeon comes up from behind her and pushes herself into the conversation.

 

“Enough talking, that’s not why she’s talking to you,” Nayeon says, taking a seat on the other side of the table from Sana. “Sana, are you okay?”

 

Sana nervously plays with the edge of her scarf, worried that it’s exposed anything. “Huh?”

 

“See, we’re a bit worried for you…” Jeongyeon explains, taking the seat next to Nayeon.

 

Sana wonders if this is supposed to be an intervention. “Ah, don’t worry. I’ve just had a couple long nights.”

 

“You seem really distracted lately,” Nayeon points out, not letting the conversation stop there. “It’s like you’re a mindless zombie. You do your work, take notes, and then you go away. It’s like you’re not even existing.”

 

“Maybe I’m overworked?” Sana answers hesitantly, her lack of confidence making it more suspicious.

 

“Is it Dahyun?” Jeongyoung asks suddenly, thinking about how the younger girl has mysteriously stopped attending her classes in the last week.

 

“N-no!” Sana says a little too quickly. “I mean, Dubu’s a little sick but she’s doing fine, really. I think we’re getting better at this whole relationship thing.”

 

The relationship thing. For some reason, Sana keeps calling it that, never really settling with calling Dahyun her girlfriend and letting that term be self-explanatory about what they are to each other. Sana’s a bit hesitant when it comes to relationships, mostly due to past experiences, so she’s weirdly shy about it even though she’s much more open about her attractions than most people are.

 

Jeongyoung nods, not really believing that that’s all that’s going on in Sana’s life, but not wanting to pry about it.

 

“Relationship thing?” Nayeon air quotes, “You’re still calling it that?”

 

“ _Nayeon_ ,” Jeongyeon warns, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

 

“She should join us later. It’s been a while since we’ve been all together, huh? I’m sure the other girls will love seeing her again.”

 

Sana panics. “She’ll probably say no, she’s still sick, okay?”

 

Nayeon narrows her eyes at her. Then she quietly gasps. “Oh my, is that a euphemism for something?!”

 

Sana panics again. “Yes. Well, maybe?”

 

Nayeon suddenly reaches towards Sana, pulling Sana’s scarf down a bit, revealing the love marks.

 

Jeongyeon puts her hands on Nayeon’s shoulders again before making her get up. “I hope she gets better soon, Sana-ssi,” Jeongyeon says with a regretful smile to Sana. “Nayeon needs to get going for her next class now. See you later, Sana.”

 

Sana gives her a hesitant thumbs up, trying to correct her scarf again, her face burning up a bit.

 

She isn’t sure why she’s a bit embarrassed at it. After all, those marks are a cause of Dahyun being a vampire and, to put it in appropriate terms, Sana being into it. But, well, they’re not bites. Sana trails a finger over the one closest to her jaw. It strangely doesn’t hurt. If anything, feeling the mark is making her miss Dahyun a bit.

 

Her face warms up a bit, feeling like she should probably stop thinking about that type of stuff when she’s in public. She looks around to the other college students eating their lunch and hanging out with friends. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like anyone noticed her acting weirdly.

 

Sana continues to feel the love mark. The tips of her mouth start to curve upwards. The love mark is a reminder that Dahyun’s waiting for her, probably sleeping right now since it’s daylight. The thought of a sleepy Dahyun makes Sana yearn to just touch her, hold her in her arms. It’s been a while since she’s spooned the younger girl.

 

~

 

Dahyun looked like she was an idol hiding from crazed fans. She had the whole get-up on, an overly large mask covering over half of her face, dark glasses, a baseball cap, and baggy clothes with sleeves far too long. The good thing about winter is that it’s not as sunny, so it’s relatively safe for her to be out. The bad thing is that there’s not enough daylight hours for her to sleep off her exhaustion from the night. She should probably talk with Sana about just cuddling instead of participating in sexy times. Somehow, the thought makes her face warm up against the cool winter air.

 

There’s still some time before Sana’s last class of the day gets out, so Dahyun’s decided to wait at the library.

 

Dahyun looks through all the books, trying to see if she can find anything interesting, when a girl bumps into her. Her mask falls of her face, but the person doesn’t see her. Instead, Dahyun sees that the person expertly put a book in her hands when they bumped into her.

 

“H-hey?” Dahyun tries to say, but the person basically runs off.

 

Dahyun moves quickly, but this person has somehow managed to disappear. Dahyun looks through all the library aisles but doesn’t find the person.

 

She inspects the book in her hands. It’s small, weirdly lightweight, and it reminds Dahyun of a phone more than a book with it’s dark gray color. It’s pocket-size, which explains why Dahyun didn’t notice that person giving it to her at first. Dahyun must have not noticed the title until now, because it sends panic across her the moment she sees it.

 

_The Modern Demon: Vampires_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chap because i just wanted to get this out to announce that!! i'm gonna be turning this fic into a multichap work! i promise future updates are going to be much much longer and average 3k words each, but i just wanted to ease you guys in to what the plot will be like in the rest of this fic.
> 
> i'm having a good day, so i hope you guys are having a good day too~


	3. take care of me

“I forgot to tell you this morning, but I was going to meet up with Nayeon and Jeongyeon today,” Sana tells her when they meet up. “They asked if you could come, but I told them-”

 

“Ah, I miss seeing them, can I go?” Dahyun’s a little high-sprung and weirdly energetic.

 

“Are you sure?” Sana asks, taking Dahyun’s hand and intertwining their fingers.

 

“Yeah, it’ll be nice!” Dahyun answers a little too cheerfully.

 

Sana narrows her eyes at her, taking a step away. “...Something’s up, isn’t it?”

 

Dahyun wishes she had more time to avoid confrontation, not wanting Sana to get unnecessarily worried about her, but now she doesn’t have the will to say everything’s fine when it truly isn't. She takes the book out of her pocket to show it Sana, grimacing a bit at the title. It sits heavily in her hands, the rough leather sinking into her skin and leaving a sharp overwhelming sensation that almost feels painful. On instinct, Dahyun wants to throw the book away, but she keeps her cool and puts it in Sana’s hand. “Someone gave this to me when I was waiting for you.”

 

Sana holds up the book with the hand that isn’t holding onto Dahyun. “ _The Modern Demon_ ,” she reads out loud. Then she turns towards Dahyun with an unreadable expression on her face. “I’ll text Nayeon and tell her we can’t make it.” Sana drops the book in her own pocket. “We’re going home.”

 

~

 

They’ve never been this quiet.

 

It’s not unusual for them to make the walk home fun. Sana would suggest ice cream, or they would take a walk on the park (sometimes sneaking in if it’s closed), or they would just be playful and clingy around one another. Those impromptu dates always managed to be more fun than if they had just decided to go out for dinner and have a normal date. They were that annoying couple that strangers couldn’t help but feel jealous of. There was never a dull moment and the space between them was always filled with laughter.

 

But now they’re just quiet, the only sounds being that of strangers with their own busy lives, and the space between Sana and Dahyun remains blank with tension. The sounds from their surroundings echo in Dahyun’s head, everything seeming foreboding all of a sudden, the freezing weather giving a sense of emptiness that tightens itself on Dahyun's chest and refuses to let go.

 

Dahyun shivers against the cold and Sana, noticing this, walks a little closer to her. And the silence continues between them.

 

~

 

“So…” Dahyun starts slowly, not knowing how to approach the subject. "What should we do about it?"

 

“It’s a whole series, by the way,” Sana casually tells her, taking out the book and flipping through some of the pages. “Vampires, werewolves, not zombies though.” She stops flipping for a couple seconds, and after reading a couple sentences laughs to herself. “Apparently aliens too.”

 

Dahyun’s still confused. “So, it’s not real?”

 

“Oh, it’s real,” Sana says in a gentle voice, as if she’s trying to not appear too insensitive about it. “I unfortunately have a friend who’s into this sort of stuff. He… He talks about hunters and how much fun it is to…” Sana trails off, not wanting to say it.

 

Dahyun feels a little less alive, if that’s even possible. “Who?” she asks, and she sounds so small all of a sudden.

 

Sana sighs, “It’s that guy Heonwoo that my parents tried to set me up with. You remember him?”

 

Dahyun remembers all too well. The name itself brings a sense of disgust to her. When she and Sana had started dating, that guy thought it was all a joke and that really Sana was trying to make him jealous. Eventually he gave up on his feelings for Sana and accepted the fact that the woman he loves will never love him back. He even apologized to them for acting that way, resulting in Sana keeping him as a friend. But Dahyun… Well, Dahyun doesn’t like his closeness to Sana. He's always come off as a little creepy.

 

“I saw him reading a book like this a couple days ago,” Sana winces after saying that. “For werewolves, so I doubt he’s the one who gave you this," she quickly adds. "But who knows.”

 

Dahyun’s been doing relatively well in controlling her vampiric instincts, but this kills her willpower. She’s snarling to herself, momentarily wanting to find him and tear him to shreds, feast on his remains so that no one who ever cared about him could find peace in his sleeping body. When she feels her fangs scratch her bottom lip, she wakes up from it as if it was a bad dream, feeling guilty over those thoughts and her lack of self-control to stop them.

 

Sana notices the flare of red on Dahyun’s eyes and the moment of shame that comes after. “Hey, hey, come back to me.” Sana slings an arm over Dahyun’s shoulders, kissing her cheek with no precaution. “Where’s my cute Dubu? I miss my cute Dubu…”

 

Dahyun smiles at Sana’s affection, the echoes of her vampirism dying down as the human part of her focuses on Sana and nothing else.

 

“There she is!” Sana exclaims, poking Dahyun’s cheek and causing her smile to grow. “The love of my life! The most adorable girl in the world! My future wife!”

 

Dahyun shakes her head at Sana’s antics. “ _Aish_ , let’s focus. Marriage comes _later_.”

 

“You're already accepting my proposal?" Sana jokes with a huge cheeky smile on her face.

 

"Focus!" Dahyun tells her, slapping her arm playfully and pointing at the book in Sana's hands.

 

"Oh, right!” Sana turns her attention back to the book. Then she’s squinting at the page, noticing blue pen marks on the side. “Whoever had this wrote some weird thing here,” she says, trying to turn the book upside down and see if that makes the written words easier to understand, but when that doesn’t work she turns it right again. “Can you read it?”

 

Dahyun peers through it over Sana’s shoulder. They’re written in a weird pattern of swirls and sharp lines, the jagged edges of each letter seeming to bleed with ink. Dahyun blinks a few times, not really sure if she’s imaging the ink dots moving on their own or not. Her eyes adjust at the words and they blend into the page until, all of a sudden, Dahyun knows what it says. “ _Meeting on the 8th,_ ” she hisses underneath her breath without even noticing, simply reading what it says.

 

“You okay there, Dubu-yah?” Sana asks, a worried expression on her face as she takes in the red flare in Dahyun’s eyes.

 

“That’s what it says,” Dahyun tells her in a normal voice, looking directly at her. “Meeting on the 8th, that’s what it says,” she clarifies, realizing that the hiss that had escaped her voice before was not loud enough.

 

“You can read that?” Sana asks, trying to make sense of the words but still understanding nothing. “How?”

 

Dahyun stares at the page. “...I don’t know,” she says after a moment.

 

Then a sudden bright pain courses through her head, white-hot heat throbbing against her. And then nothing, reminiscent of when she got bitten all those nights ago.

 

~

 

She recovered some time after, returning back to normal immediately as if nothing happened. When she wakes up from it, Dahyun's incredibly disorientated and it takes a moment for her to realize that she's in her and Sana's room. Before she can even take in what just happened, Sana's hugging her.

 

"H-hey, is everything okay?" Dahyun asks, pulling Sana back to look at her face.

 

Sana's face is puffy and her eyes are slightly red. "No," she says in a small voice. "Are _you_ okay?"

 

"Of course I am," Dahyun says easily, more worried as to why Sana was crying. "I'm not gonna drop dead until after I marry you," she jokes to try and make Sana smile, and it works because Sana's smiling and pushing her away and then hugging her again.

 

 

~

 

Heonwoo is happy to be able to hang out with Sana again. They’re in his sister’s coffee shop, as that's where Heonwoo was stealing the WiFi when Sana had called and asked him to meet up. Naturally, he just told her to come here. “Noona, how’s college treating you?”

 

“It’s going well,” Sana tells him. She’s sitting on the other side of the table to him, a latte in her hand. The book feels heavy in her pocket, but she knows that she shouldn’t bring it up immediately or Heonwoo might get annoyed and decide not to help. “A bit stressful, but good.”

 

“So, what made you decide to finally call me back?” Heonwoo asks, winking with too little class for Sana to find that the least bit charming.

 

“Why can’t we just simply hang out sometimes? I don’t  _ use  _ you, Woo-yah. I actually care about you, you know,” Sana argues playfully, pulling the book out of her pocket.

 

She puts it on the table, causing Heonwoo to laugh because he knows that means that she  _ is  _ here for something and not just to see him.

 

He takes a quick sip from his coffee before grabbing the book. “You’re reading  _ Modern Demons _ too?” he asks with a giddy tone, flipping through a few pages. “It’s a good series, don’t you think? I’ve been meaning to find this vampire version but it’s the hardest one to find.”

 

“I saw it in the library and it seemed interesting, but I also remembered you were into this sort of stuff too.” She wants to cringe at how normal she’s making it out to be.

 

“I’m actually trying to get into the Hunter’s League this year,” he says all excitedly, always eager to talk about himself. “And it’s in a good time, too.”

 

“Really?” Sana feigns some interest. “Why’s that?”

 

“Oh, you haven’t heard?”  Heonwoo asks, his voice so light and airy that it seems like that of a kid talking about his toys and finding someone who cares enough to listen.

 

“Heard what?” she asks, beckoning him. He’s far too childish for his own good, but she has to admit that it’s the only thing that makes him good company.

 

“There’s a rumor that there’s a vampire in this area!” Heonwoo exclaims as if this is the best news of his life, leaning forward to see Sana’s reaction better.

 

Sana can’t help but hate how he uses the word  _ rumor _ . Rumors are usually nothing more than gossip. They’re  supposed to be something people can laugh at because it's so far-fetched, or gasp because it might be true. They entertain those too bored with their own lives to mind their own business. They're supposed to be a bit of mindlessly fun drama. They're not supposed to be fucking dangerous.

 

It manages to make Sana feel a little sick, the tips of her fingers turning slightly numb. She covers it up by taking a sip of her latte.

 

“Hopefully I’ll even be able to help track it down by the time I join!” he says loudly in his excitement, his eyes sparkling with glee and his smile bright with bloodlust. “Ah, imagine it, Sana-chan! My first beast- a vampire!”

 

It makes Sana shiver a bit but he doesn’t notice. She feels a bit uncomfortable with the honorific since Heonwoo is the only person she’s not close with who uses that in a casual way just because he thinks it’s cute despite her discomfort. “Isn’t your older brother in the League?” she asks, wanting to ignore her own discomfort so they can continue this conversation.

 

“Hyung is!” Heonwoo nods, taking another sip of his coffee. “Actually, he was telling me that he told his hunter friends about maybe inviting me to the next meeting. He actually knows the vampire personally!”

 

This catches Sana’s attention. “Personally?”

 

“I don’t know how well, but Hyung said that he used to be friends with it,” Heonwoo mentions offhandedly. “He said they have some unfinished business," he airquotes, "Whatever that means. Ah, but it’ll be so fun if we get to track down a freakin’ vampire together!”

 

Sana nods slowly, tries to swallow the bile forming in her mouth and maintain her smile. She tries to remind herself that Heonwoo’s excitement is due to him and his brother having such a bad relationship despite Heonwoo looking up to him so much. It’s a bit sad now that she’s thinking about it. Heonwoo probably would have been a better person if he had a better role model in his life, if he had only been taught to be better.

 

“Noona, are you excited for me?” Heonwoo asks, his eyes bright like an overgrown puppy.

 

Sana hesitates. “Isn’t this a bit dangerous? How are you going to balance your schoolwork while being a hunter?”

 

Heonwoo laughs. “It’s so like you to ask that, Sana-chan! If you’re that worried about me, you should just come with me!”

 

Sana raises an eyebrow. “I can? Aren’t meetings restricted to members only?”

 

Heonwoo looks at her weirdly. “Of course you can go with me, noona. You’re practically an honorary hunter! I bet the moment they hear that you’re a Minatozaki, they’ll try to convince you to help us track the vamp down. It’s on the 8th.”

 

She feels a bit nauseous right now. “We’re not hunters anymore, though,” she tries to defend herself, not wanting to be associated as a player of such a crude game.

 

“It’s all in the genes, though!” Heonwoo argues. “Ah, noona, you should go with me! It’ll be so much fun!”

 

“How can you find that fun?” Sana asks all of a sudden, losing her composure. “It’s murder no matter how you try to put it.”

 

Heonwoo flinches back, having not expected this. “They’re dangerous, though. They’re running free and they refuse to make themselves legal. Who knows how much damage they’re doing and we just haven’t found out about it yet?”

 

“They’re still human,” Sana argues, “ _ Human _ , just like you and me.”

 

“They’re  _ illegal _ , and they’re a danger to all of us if we don’t do something about it,” Heonwoo tells her. He frowns, having not anticipated that he would end up debating with Sana over this. “Don’t you wonder why they haven’t signed themselves into the system? It’s because they know they won’t be able to do half of the evil they do now if they did.”

 

“What if they’re just living like a normal human? Would you still think they’re  _ evil? _ ”

 

“It’s best to kill off their smiles before they can kill ours.” The anger came off of him in waves, and never before did he look more like a villain than he did now.

 

And the word  _ kill  _ just makes his point all the more dangerous.

 

“There’s already reports that he’s turning innocents into vamps, shouldn’t we get justice for those victims?”

 

~

 

Sana hadn’t even pulled out her keys when Dahyun opens the door. “Sana!” she gushed, crushing her in a hug like she’s a puppy who misses their owner.

 

“What’s up, baby?” Sana smiles, pecking her lips and coming inside.

 

“You took so  _ long _ ,” Dahyun pouts. “I was starting to get worried.”

 

“Me and Heonwoo aren’t friends anymore,” Sana states all of a sudden, pulling off her coat.

 

“Oh,” Dahyun tries to sound empathetic, but really she’s trying to keep herself from bursting with joy. “It went that bad?”

 

Sana stares at her for a moment. “Ey, I know you’re happy about it, stop pretending.”

 

“I just don’t get why you decided to stay friends with him after everything he did,” Dahyun says all too quickly, the words falling out of her mouth like she’s been holding onto them for years — and she has.

 

Sana laughs to herself. “Okay, maybe you’re a little right on that.”

 

“Really though, how bad did it go?” Dahyun asks, pulling her towards the couch so they can gossip properly.

 

“We barely even talked about the book, but... There’s another vampire,” Sana pauses, letting the information sink in, “And the Hunter Leage is planning on tracking him down on the 8th. I think it’s the same one that bit you.”

 

~

 

Dahyun doesn’t really know enough ways to deal with stress, but she knows enough. She needs to be taken care of, to be distracted of everything that goes on. She feels dirty, and she needs something or someone to get her mind off of it.

 

“Is this okay, baby?” Sana asks, voice soft and sultry at the same time, knowing just what Dahyun needs.

 

Dahyun nods, knowing that she won’t be able to verbally answer.

 

Sana moves so she’s looking at her, smiling slyly when a moan manages to escape Dahyun’s lips. “I like hearing you, baby,” Sana tells her.

 

At that moment, the world seems to stop around them. Sana leans in, kissing her so roughly and loving all the little sounds that Dahyun’s making underneath her.

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this in my drafts for so long... for some reason vampire fics are really easy for me to write  
> anyway, find me on twt @sonhyewolf


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